HURRICANE SANDY

The LocalLocal candidates for City Council are vying for Council Member Letitia James’ 35th district seat (Frank Richard Hurley not pictured).

City Council hopeful Laurie Cumbo scored two major labor endorsements recently in her bid to replace Council Member Letitia James in the 35th District, who is stepping down to run for Public Advocate.

On April 19, Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, the country’s largest property service workers’ union, announced its endorsement of Ms. Cumbo. The news came a day after the New York Hotel Trade Council (HTC) voiced its support for her campaign. As the candidates make the rounds, the endorsements will give Ms. Cumbo a leg up in a field where candidates differ more in experience and connections than in policy.

“From paid sick leave to better access to healthcare, Ms. Cumbo is fighting for the issues that matter to our members,” union President Hector Figueroa said in a statement. “Not only does she serve as a living example of the pathway to the middle class that unions create, she has vowed to protect and preserve that pathway for others.”Read more…

According to DNAinfo, the Brooklyn Flea has a plan to help out the Sandy-ravaged South Street Seaport this summer. Flea vendors will set up shop starting Memorial weekend, with a 40-table, 497-seat outdoor beer garden and food court. Expect food vendors to sell tasty summer delights such as hot dogs, barbecue sandwiches and fruit smoothies.

This is the second run for the historical play at BLDG 92, a reappearance director Jessica Silsby Brater is eager for, since the finale show was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy in October.

“That was kind of anticlimactic, so we were really delighted to have the opportunity to come back,” Ms. Brater said.

Along with being the director, Ms. Brater is also the founding artistic director of Polybe + Seats, the production company running “A History of Launching Ships” at the navy yard.

“Our company has a history of working in non-traditional theater spaces in Brooklyn,” she said, and that definitely holds true for this play. The production company sought a location in Brooklyn and wanted the site to have a central role in the story. This is the first theater production held at BLDG 92.Read more…

Craig GiammonaGomey Lobsang (left) and Gyayig Jinpa, members IceStone’s production team, work on a calibrater that is key to the company’s manufacturing process.

More than three months after Hurricane Sandy slammed New York City and pushed at least five feet of water into the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the owner of a manufacturing business at the former shipyard thinks his company has finally turned the corner toward a full recovery. But it hasn’t been easy.

Dal LaMagna, one of the owners of the Navy Yard-based business IceStone, has faced a variety of hurdles in his attempts to get financial assistance for storm recovery, struggling at times to navigate the byzantine bureaucracy of the federal and city governments. After being rejected by the city for storm aid, IceStone, which makes material for countertops out of recycled glass, won preliminary approval for a nearly $1 million loan from the Small Business Administration this month. But the money won’t arrive for months, and Mr. LaMagna has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the company afloat.

“If there wasn’t a rich guy sitting here, we’d be out of business,” Mr. LaMagna said about his post-Sandy investment.Read more…

CREDITFamily support workers Kamila Major, Aqua Hawthorne and Diana Mejia (from left) receive infant and toddler goods for their clients from Sandie Trombert of Little Essentials, a Gowanus-based nonprofit that collects and distributes such materials in Brooklyn.

The non-profit Little Essentials, an organization dedicated to collecting and distributing infant and toddler goods to local families in need, is holding a benefit concert tonight at the Pillow Café-Lounge from 7 to 10 p.m. in an effort to garner community support and funding to grow its services.

“There’s great potential to expand,” said Sandie Trombert, a Fort Greene resident and the founder and president of Little Essentials.Read more…

“In this fight, our families and children must be the first priority, and action will be necessary from all levels of government,” he said in a statement this week.

What do you think about the legislation, locals?

Don’t miss President Barack Obama at the Brooklyn Academy of Music this weekend. The 57th Presidential Inauguration takes place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and BAM will simulcast portions of the president’s speech, following comments and performances, as part of its MLK day tribute.

If history is your thing, grab some fresh air while taking in the neighborhood’s war-time legacy at “The Can-Do Yard: WWII at the Brooklyn Navy Yard” walking tour. The tour, which debuts Jan. 20 at 11 a.m., will explore the stories of sailors and soldiers at historically significant sites.

Still trying to find a way to help victims of Hurricane Sandy? The über-talented students at Brooklyn Technical High School are gearing up for their annual talent show on Feb. 8, but they’re having trouble selecting a Hurricane Sandy relief fund to donate the money garnered from each $1 ticket sold. Help them choose with this survey.

If fundraisers and filmmaking aren’t your thing, maybe you’d prefer to take a stroll around the neighborhood and enjoy the last few signs of Christmas. Although Mulchfest is over and almost all the holiday decorations are gone, we found this tree was still creatively decorated with giant red balls made out of Christmas lights. If you see some decorations still donning local sidewalks, take a picture and share it with us on our Local Flickr group.

It’s been about two months since Hurricane Sandy hit New York City, but some Rockaway residents are still struggling to get back on their feet. Respond & Rebuild, a Fort Greene-based disaster relief organization, has helped Sandy victims pump water from their homes, sanitize flooded areas and remove mold since the devastation, Fort Greene Patch reported. The organization accepts volunteer teams every Saturday and Sunday if you want to help, but you can also chip in by donating some money.

As the year draws to a close, we thought we’d do a bit of reflecting on the events and stories The Local covered this year. From local elections to business closings and Hurricane Sandy recoveries, here’s a look back at the year in stories.

Shared on Flickr by thoth1618Local Ginko trees, which have long lost their leaves, sway in the cool breeze near the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park.

Good morning, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

How was your Christmas? We sure hope you were able to give all the gifts you wanted to, as well as have all the good times possible. The longest nights of the season are behind us, so we’re looking forward to longer days. What are you looking forward to as we end the year, locals?

If you’re looking forward keeping your New Years resolutions, we commend you. But if you’re anticipating having some trouble, you might want to check out this post on Fort Greene Patch, detailing some ways to stick to your goals. We think the initial advice, to make the resolution attainable, is particularly wise.

One local gave some New Years resolution advice to change childrens’ lives. The photo of a child playing in Fort Greene Park features a caption that urges parents to bring their children outside to play more, giving them a break from computers, video games and television. What New Years advice do you have for your neighbors?

The city Department of Transportation’s controversial Citi Bike bike-sharing program, which put 600 bike racks on the streets of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, has residents up in arms. But kiosks are not coming down, New York City Council Member Letitia James told more than 100 neighborhood residents at a raucous town hall meeting last night.

Get news about Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in our daily roundup, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s summer slate of youth-oriented programs and the third annual Art of Brooklyn Film Festival coming to St. Joseph’s College in Clinton Hill.

In today’s daily post, you’ll find news on the spring opening of the Fort Greene Artisan Market, a Pratt Institute student artwork display at a Gagosian Gallery in Manhattan and a new recording studio in the nabe.

In this crime report, locals told police that their belongings were stolen from cars and trucks, their homes were burglarized and their bank accounts were used in unauthorized ways. Also, disputes between significant others resulted in violence and robberies last week. The trend of robberies on the B38 bus continued last week, with another incident on May 4 marking the tenth such robbery in the precinct this year so far.

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